This story unfolded in my head upon reading @SmilingHedgie 's one-shot Escaping in Heat. I hope you will like it and if so, please visit the original story. The One-shots book has many awesome stories inside.

And @-dark45- you get well soon ;-) Maybe this small story will help you.

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The night was deep and a forest underneath it was even deeper. The sky was covered by heavy clouds promising a strong rain. An owl call was heard but it was cut short as a louder sound interrupted the stillness of the woods. Thru the bushes and tall grass, a young man was dashing with a fear all over his face.

His breath was short and sharp, gasping for the air, never having enough in his lungs as he exhaled it immediately. His clothes and skin were cut in many places, but he hardly was feeling the pain as a scary thing was chasing him.

'Why was I such a fool?!' cursed himself the young man heavily panting with his over-shoulder handbag hitting him from behind with each stride. 'Why didn't I listen?!' A sound of broken trunk reached his pointy ears making his heart skip a beat. It was getting close. He didn't dare to look behind. With his hands swinging from one side to other, he was pushing the branches away, cutting close to trees or tumbling over stones and turfs.

A moon peeked out, shining his silver light on the ground, making the man looking dazzling as his fur was as silver as the moon itself. His five front quills were thin and pointing upward while the ones on the back of the head were long and thick. His amber eyes would shine with happiness any other moment but now they were full of a horror.

A big shadow leaped from the bushes, landing just a few meters behind the running hedgehog. This time he couldn't fight the urge to look back and it was the second worst mistake he has ever done. The first one was entering this dark woods at the foot of a sacred mountain in a search for a rare and powerful herb.

The stories were told about a dreadful guardian living in the forest, that will kill anyone who will dare to enter its territory. And many tried... some for the laugh... some as a dare... but no one has ever returned... making many refuse to enter the woods even if their life would depend on it. But this young man ignored it.

He laid a small offering to a shrine at the edge of the forest, praying to the forest guardian to let him search and pick the herb as he needed it for his medicine. As long the sun was high, nothing bad had happened, but the young medic soon lost the track of the time and when he noticed, the night has fallen upon him and a pair of lime green eyes with red sclera was watching him.

Just like now. They were deep and scary, more than the wide mouth with only two pairs of sharp fangs ready to sink into his meat. The guardian lifted his body, making a loud roar, letting the animals in the forest know he is hunting, and they all should get out of his way.

Before the young man could take his eyes from it, he glanced at its almost hedgehog-like torso having two pairs of upward curling quills covered by crystals at the tips. The same crystals fragments were on its clawed hands, going down along the sides and continued all the way to the tip of the long serpent lower body. Yes, the guardian of this land was none other than legendary nagahog.

The silver man tried to speed up, but his legs were heavier by each step. The guardian resumed its chase, letting the prey feel the fear to its fullest potential. A thunder was heard and then the sky was suddenly lightened up by many thunderbolts.

"Uagh!!" shouted the young medic blinded by them. He stumbled over a tree root, ending up in somersaults and when he was able to open his eyes, he felt his body descending. His eyes widen in a shock, realizing he had left the solid ground behind. For long empty seconds he stared blankly in front of himself as the gravity slowly pulled him back before he shouted at top of his lungs.

He never thought any second could pass so fast as his body hit the raging river below the cliff. As he collided with the water mass, the air was forced out of his lungs. The water engulfed him, pushing him fast forward, not giving him any time to think, much less to catch a breath. His limbs chaotically flapped all around until the body was lifted above the river surface.

He sucked the air into lungs for a mere second before his head was submerged once more. This time he managed to resurface for a longer time. And like the wild river wasn't enough, the rain started to mercilessly lash his head, making his vision even worse. A sudden wave threw him against a big rock, tearing the coat over the shoulder.

He yelped, gulping the water and coughing it back. A powerful storm was above him and each thunder kept blinding him all over again. The river took any control over his body he may still had, playing with him like a girl would with a rag doll. Swinging him from one side to another, pushing him against rocks, making him gasp for each breath. He felt his consciousness slowly slipping away. With one more push from the water mass, he was send flying.

But was nothing but an illusion as his body was merely thrown above the level as he reached the waterfall. The young medic was falling to his death, being buried by the mighty power of falling water above him. The splash he has made was quickly swallowed by the liquid around it and the lighting storm suddenly turned so quiet. Its light hardly penetrated the bubbling water, only two green dots remained. Not letting him go.

A last bubble of the air escaped his mouth as his body almost touched the fine sand below him. The water seemed cruel, but it soothed even the roughest stone. With his mind still with him, he noticed his body was lifted and quickly brought above the water level. His brain noticed it, forcing his lungs to start working. He coughed, puking water, feeling his heart to beat like crazy as his body was taken away along the river.

The storm suddenly got so far away as he was engulfed by endless cave with a rushing water. He fought against the embrace that held him, thinking only about how to run away as those lime eyes were still after him. His body shook as it hit a big rock, shattering it. There was a yelp, but... not just his.

Someone else was there too. And that someone was carrying him. But his mind was too wild, too scared to think, and the instinct to survive took him over. He scratched the back of the other person, not noticing it's scaly and that he has gloves, making any scratching fairly impossible.

The pitch black darkness wasn't easing either, making him more agitated. Suddenly he felt they are slowing down and even getting out of the cold water. It may have been just a few minutes he spent in the rapids, but they felt like an eternity.

He was kicking and even biting, falling on the hard ground completely soaked, tired and scared to the death. With no sense of the direction, he started to crawl away, until he slammed into a wall pressing against it, whimpering and sobbing. His heart was throbbing like crazy. He could hear only the flowing water, his loud breathing, and chattering teeth.

Minutes passed and nothing moved, only water droplets would be crashed upon their landing on the cold stones, continuously smoothing the mineral beneath. The silver hedgehog noticed a dim green light nearby and once he glanced at it, it took him several seconds to realize it's coming from crystals. The cave was carved with them and it was the only source of the light.

A vapor was coming from his mouth and with the slightest movement he felt his body to shiver. He didn't want to move, but he had to or he may freeze to death. With the help of the wall behind him, he slowly stood up supporting his body. He hardly saw anything a few meters in front of him, but he was still able to recognize a lying body near the edge of the river. It wasn't moving.

'Who is it?' His mind was confused, hardly remembering the past events. With shaking steps he came closer. "Hello...?" his voice was sore and he was capable only a whisper. "Hello?" he tried to talk louder but it only caused a short coughing fit. The young man gradually got on all fours, touching the stranger's head.

He felt pointy quills with a strange feeling and as his hand traveled down the back he touched a warm liquid. He squinted, smelling the fingers. "A blood?!" He was shocked. He bent down, to see the person's face.

"This... is..." His brain kicked the overdrive, flooding his mind with suppressed memories. A fear overcame him. That laying body belonged to that forest guardian that almost killed him. He bit the back of the hand to forcefully calm down. 'What's it doing here? Did it follow me?'

As the memories settled down a particular scene flashed in front of him. "Did he..." he whispered in a hoarse voice. "... save me...?" That made no sense!! Why would it jump to raging water for him? Any hunter would give up on his prey!

He started to shake and before he could sink into madness, a smell of the blood brought him back. 'It's hurt.' He touched the wound noticing only a little bit of the blood was dried. It must have been big or deep and if he won't tend it, the guardian may die from a blood loss.

"The herb!" he exclaimed... really softly. He reached for his bag realizing it's a small miracle, it wasn't lost in the river. The flowers were soaked, but otherwise alright. He quickly took out his equipment, a mortar with a pallet and started to crush the plants, making a green mash while adding a few others ingredients. Then he took his handkerchief, soaked it in the river below, noticing part of its tail was still in the water. So he took it out remembering a school lesson stating snakes are cold-blooded, depending on the outside temperature. That made him wrap the snake tail around the main body.

Once he finished cleaning the nagahog's back, he applied the medicine. He was trembling... either with fear or coldness. He checked the creature's breathing, noticing it's still alive. He sneezed and the echo startled him. "Man... I'm so cold." He hugged his sides, deciding to throw the wet clothes, spreading them around on the ground and over stalactites.

The only thing that kept him a bit positive was the fact his fur was naturally oiled repealing most of the water, making squeezing his quills a lot easier. The teeth started to chatter once more and he decided to cuddle near the nagahog, sensing its upper body is emitting a heat, making him ponder if this guardian may have some sort of heat regulation. But his mind was too tired for any thinking, he soon fell into a deep slumber.